Initial thoughts on Golden Ass

Erotique. We've talked about this word a lot in class, and I'm not sure if it's definition works here, but the Golden Ass is where this word really fits for me. I got about halfway through it, and a friend asked me to describe what I was reading and that's the only thing I could say about it. Erotic. Passionate. Beautiful. It was all so human, I think. The way the people loved, yearned, desired, plotted, hated, and lived; the jealousy in Psyche's sisters, Psyche's curiosity, Lucius' ambition, many characters' lusty thoughts. We've all experienced these things to some degree. Sometimes, I thought characters were exaggerated and extreme, but then I realized they, along with everyone else, were true to human nature; and I just thought "Wow, what a rush," because this book makes you feel and relate to so many emotions. And it's all human. We yearn for human contact and kindness and burn with itching, sometimes destructive curiosity. We cannot help ourselves; it's just erotique. To me anyway.
So. . . moving to Lucius, I liked the scene where he is the butt of a huge practical joke, because I think everyone's been in that chair before. While he thinks he's on trial, he fabricates an elaborate fight scene with the inanimate enemies, talking up their evil intent and playing up his heroic, drunken good intentions. I loved that he acted that way, because I would do exactly the same thing if my mom alluded to my breaking a rule. I would exaggerate my good character and explain a situation where I wouldn't really be at fault because it was all an unavoidable accident- wrong time wrong place situations.
I think it's funny when someone accuses or alludes to something, and we automatically feel guilty and try to come up with excuses to defend ourselves for something we might not have done. Maybe it's our sense of self preservation or justice tweaked in that direction. It doesn't do a lot for us though, which is kind of ironic. Oh, Jiminy Cricket.
Well, there was a lot more I liked about this book, but it'll have to wait. I'm tired.